


Welcome Home

by masquerade97



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Everybody Lives, Fix-It, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 06:55:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11225652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masquerade97/pseuds/masquerade97
Summary: Getting off of Scarif takes a lot of work, and a bit of luck. And after that, there's still a war.





	Welcome Home

The master switch was around here somewhere. Baze stuck close to Chirrut, keeping one eye on him and one on their surroundings. Even with the chaos, he noticed Chirrut doing the same for him. He didn’t mention it. Neither of them did. It was a comfort they’d had for years, knowing the other one was always right beside him, watching out for each other.

The closer the group got to the Citadel, the more concentrated the blaster fire became. There was no support from X-wings in this area, and the only cover they could get was to crouch behind the structure of the entrance to the Citadel itself.

“There’s your master switch.”

Baze looked out across the clearing and saw a low structure, one that, from this distance, didn’t look like much. But, it was their target – only a few paces away, but it might as well have been on the other side of the island. Baze tried to focus on a way to get to the switch, but his conditions weren’t ideal for thinking. He heard a _clang_ against the metal behind him from a shot that had avoided his shoulder by inches and immediately answered with a shot from his own gun. He noticed Chirrut make a shot even as one of the men they were traveling with made a break for the switch, only to be dropped a step or two later.

The man who was leading them – Baze couldn’t remember his name at the moment – shouted something before he ran toward the switch. He only made it a bit further than the last man.

Chirrut had fallen to a crouch, but Baze didn’t get a chance to ask if he was hurt before he had to return fire again. Then Chirrut stood and, holding his staff in front of him, walked forward calmly.

“Chirrut!” Baze called. He felt panic settle in his chest and started after Chirrut, but fell back again when a shot grazed the sleeve of his uniform, searing the skin beneath. “Chirrut, come back!”

But Chirrut didn’t seem to hear him; he just continued forward as if in a trance.

Baze knew he could shout himself hoarse before it made any difference, and for a moment all he could do was watch helplessly. Until he noticed that, even though Chirrut was right in the middle of Imperial troops, none of their shots were hitting him. Baze could almost hear Chirrut’s chanting, and for the first time in several years he felt himself thinking that the Force was actually protecting his partner. The thought seemed to lend him strength, and he leveled his gun without even bothering to aim; he figured if the Force wanted to protect Chirrut, it would help him do a bit of protecting too.

Maybe it was the Force, or maybe it was luck – Baze wasn’t prepared to commit to either right now – that allowed Baze to hit his targets. He knew that if he told Chirrut about it later, Chirrut would get that smug look and Baze would have to stop him before he could say it was the Force that protected him. Baze knew he wouldn’t stop him. He hadn’t so far.

By the time Chirrut had found the switch and flipped it, there were fewer Imperials out and about. Few enough that it didn’t seem so impossible to cross the space between the switch and the Citadel.

“Chirrut!” Baze shouted again. He saw Chirrut smile at the sound of his voice as he turned back and started retracing his steps.

The shot came out of nowhere. It caught Chirrut in the shoulder and spun him to the ground without so much as a shout of surprise.

Baze reacted without thinking. He leveled his blaster and dropped the trooper even as he shouted and ran to Chirrut’s form on the ground. He couldn’t speak as he knelt and turned Chirrut over as carefully as he could, afraid of causing further damage.

“Gently,” Chirrut managed, wincing when his shoulder shifted. He sucked in a breath through his teeth and rearranged himself so his weight wasn’t on his injured arm.

“You’re alive,” Baze finally said.

“Of course I am,” Chirrut said. He squeezed Baze’s arm, though it wasn’t clear if he was doing it to reassure Baze or himself. He smiled slightly. “The Force did protect me.”

Baze closed his eyes and shook his head. “The Force,” he said, with only a hint of sarcasm.

“And you.”

Baze leaned over Chirrut, nuzzled against his neck. He could feel Chirrut’s breath against his ear, and for the first time all day he let himself be relieved.

After a minute or so, Chirrut became acutely aware of the silence in their surroundings. At first, he’d thought the lack of sound was caused by the ringing in his ears from the chaos of crossing the battlefield, but as that subsided he noticed the sounds of fighting were far away. “Baze,” he said, shifting again to try to force himself upright. “How are the others?”

A tense silence followed before, finally, Baze said, “I don’t know.”

Chirrut shook his head and pushed himself up so he was sitting. He kept his hand on Baze’s arm. “Can you see our landing pad from here?”

There was a soft rustling as Baze shifted to look in one direction or another. Chirrut heard a shout, but it was far away, muffled by distance and the thick trees around them.

“It looks clear in that direction,” Baze said thoughtfully. There was a guarded edge to his voice, like he didn’t want to let his hopes get too high.

Gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder, Chirrut pushed himself to his feet. “Then we should get back.”

Baze hesitated, but then there was the sound of shifting sand as he stood. Something else sifted through the sand and Chirrut held his hand out to receive the staff he knew Baze was offering him. His hand lingered on Baze’s, reassuring himself by touch that his partner was there. He smiled when he felt Baze shift and put an arm around his shoulders, careful to keep from putting too much pressure on the injured arm.

*~*~*~*~*

Bodhi couldn’t deny that he was terrified. He was a pilot, not a soldier. He had wondered, more than once, what would have happened if he had scored a bit higher on his simulations and been trained to fly the TIE fighters instead of cargo ships.

He never got too far with those thoughts; he had always known that he would end up as he was now, terrified of the fighting all around him.

But he needed to plug the ship into the main communications network so he could get a signal strong enough to contact the Rebel fleet fighting above the atmosphere, above the forcefield that surrounded the planet. The group that had stayed behind to guard him, to keep watch over the ship, had already run out to hold off whatever Imperial troops were around their landing pad so Bodhi could plug in. He could hear their shouts, calls to change position, calls that identified the locations of new threats.

Bodhi took a deep breath, blocked out the sound of shouting and blaster fire, and stepped off the ship’s ramp and onto the landing pad. He could see his target, about 50 meters away, and he did his best to ignore the fighting around him. The weight of the spool of cable on his back made him stumble as he ducked to the side to avoid being shot, but he managed to keep his footing. The smell of ozone, left in the wake of blaster fire, made him gag as a shot missed him by inches.

He fell to his knees beside the plug-in and connected the end of the cable.

“Come on,” he muttered to himself. What if there was a problem with the connection? What if the cable had been damaged? “Come on come on come on.”

Finally, the light on the port changed and Bodhi breathed a sigh of relief; the connection was sound. Before he could lose any more time, he started back toward the ship. As the cable unwound from its spool, the weight on his back grew lighter, and he found himself running faster, until he was just a stride from the ship’s ramp and he was jerked backwards almost violently. Panic surged through him; he had checked the length of the cable before he’d set out, making sure to grab one that was long enough. Hell, he’d grabbed one with a bit more length than he thought he needed, just to be sure. There was no way the cable was too short.

He spun around, expecting Imperial troops to have disconnected his cable, dragging him back to them by their grip on the spool on his back. But no, the cable had snagged, and Bodhi could have laughed at the relief he felt as he ran to release the cable from the structure it had caught on.

 _Too much time_ , Bodhi thought as he tugged on the cable, his relief evaporating. _You’re taking too much time_. What if Jyn and Cassian had plugged in the Death Star plans, only to have the signal blocked by the shield around the planet? What if the master switch had already been flipped and his time to transmit was already running out?

The cable finally came loose and Bodhi sprinted back to the ship. He plugged the other end of the cable into his transmitter and started flipping through frequencies as soon as he was sure the signal had connected. He jumped over the frequencies he knew were Imperial controlled, and called out for help on each frequency he could broadcast to. “This is Rogue One calling the rebel fleet,” he would say, then he would wait two seconds and flip to the next frequency.

His hands flew over the controls. The sounds of fighting were dying down, but he wasn’t sure if that was because it was moving on, or if the men were all dying, or if he simply couldn’t hear it over the fear that weighed on his chest. “This is Rogue One, is anybody out there?” he demanded, frustration and fear mixing in his voice. “Come in, over.”

“This is Admiral Raddus aboard the _Profundity,_ ” a voice finally said, grainy because of the transmission through the shield. “We hear you Rogue One.”

Bodhi’s breath escaped like someone had punched him, but he smiled. “We have the plans,” he said, his breathing heavy. He wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but he chose to believe it was. That was better than the alternative. “The- the plans will be transmitted through the communications tower. You need to be in position to receive.” Bodhi looked up toward the ceiling, as if he could see the forcefield from his position. “And you need to take down the shield gate. It’s the only way the transmission can get through.”

For a time, there was silence. Bodhi was sure that it was only a second or two, but it felt infinitely longer. He watched his dials, making sure the connection didn’t die; he wondered why the ship was so silent – there should be fighting outside, he was sure.

“Copy, Rogue One,” the voice said.

Bodhi sighed with relief even as the connection died. He glanced toward the ladder to the cockpit and debated taking off, going to find the others if he could. Cassian and Jyn, at least, would be at the communications tower. Maybe he could find Baze and Chirrut on his way there, though they had been with the squad that had gone to find the master switch, and it had been some time since there had been any word from them.

But he didn’t have time to act on that plan. There was a sudden burst of noise from outside the ship, and the sound of blaster fire was suddenly in the air again. For the first time since landing, Bodhi felt his ship being targeted by the troopers. Someone had spotted him. Maybe someone had noticed that this was the only pad that hadn’t been targeted by rebel explosions. It didn’t matter how – the Imperial troops were there, not a stone’s throw away.

Bodhi grabbed a spare blaster that had been discarded nearby and shot blindly toward the troopers. There was a satisfying crunch of armor and the trooper fell. Then a metallic _clink_ and Bodhi had half a second to register a grenade that had landed at his feet. Without thinking, he kicked it as hard as he could down the ramp.

The explosion knocked him off his feet and he landed hard on his shoulder. The heat was suffocating, and shrapnel from an unknown source clawed at him as it flew by.

Bodhi’s ears were ringing when he sat up, and he was aware of a sharp pain in his arm and his leg. He held his arm close to his torso, his other hand holding tight to his forearm like a firm grip would make it stop hurting. He thought his collar bone might have broken when he landed, but for now his senses seemed dulled. He shook himself and forced himself to his feet, looking out from his ship. The landing pad had gone quiet, with no motion in the clearing or in the trees.

Something moving the vegetation to his right made Bodhi jump and take half a step back to hide himself in the ship. He’d lost his blaster in the explosion and he was halfway through deciding how he’d fight back in his current state when he recognized the two figures who stepped out from the trees.

“Baze?” he asked, stepping forward and squinting into the glare of the light to make sure he wasn’t seeing things. “Chirrut?”

“You’re alive,” Chirrut said, sounding equally relieved and surprised. He and Baze were leaning against each other and Bodhi wondered how hurt they were.

“Barely.” Bodhi gritted his teeth when his arm shifted. “Have you heard from the others?”

They both shook their heads. “We thought you might have,” Chirrut said.

“No,” Bodhi admitted. “I did have contact with the rebel fleet.”

“Did they receive the plans?”

Bodhi shrugged and instantly regretted it. “I don’t know.” There was a _boom_ from an X-wing crashing on the shore. “I think it’s time we tried to get out of here.” He stood aside as Chirrut and Baze walked up the ramp, surveying the damage to the ship. Thankfully, the damage seemed minor.

“Did anyone else make it back with you?”

“No,” Baze said shortly. Bodhi didn’t blame him for keeping it brief.

Bodhi brought the ramp up and made his way to the ladder that would take him to the cockpit. He took a moment to steel himself before attempting to climb.

“Where are we going?” Baze asked.

Bodhi sighed and grabbed the rung in front of him. “We’ll make a round by the communications tower. Hopefully they’ll be there.”

“And if they aren’t?”

Bodhi shook his head. He preferred not to think of that possibility.

*~*~*~*~*

Cassian and Jyn made their way through the tunnel to the data tower. K2 stayed in the antechamber, plugged in to the machine in front of him, and scanned through the data packs available to him in an effort to find the plans for the Death Star.

K2 watched the door suspiciously, expecting enemy soldiers to come in every moment and either start questioning or start shooting. He took a moment to run through two separate scenarios and decided the probability of survival was higher – though only slightly – if he locked the door from the inside. He just had to hope he had gotten better at lying than he had been on Jedha.

“I can find you the file,” K2 said, the piles of information in the data tower flashing by in his mind as he scanned them from where he was plugged in. “But you’ll have to retrieve it manually.” It took only a moment for him to find the correct category.

Unfortunately, in the same moment the door rattled. K2 closed the door to the tunnel, just in case.

“What’s going on in there?” a muffled voice demanded.

“The garrison was deployed,” K2 replied, finding it fortunate that there was a way to answer without lying. “The door was locked to ensure the safety of the data tower.” As if to emphasize his point, the floor rumbled from an explosion, though whether it was a large explosion on the beach or a smaller one at the base of the Citadel was impossible to tell.

A beat passed in silence, and K2 dared not speak into the communicator for fear that the soldier on the other side of the door would hear. He heard the start of a question from Cassian, but was able to mute the comm before even a word could get out.

“There is not a droid assigned to this post,” the voice on the other side of the door said, sounding suspicious and angry. “State your identification number.”

It took K2 half a second to determine which ID he could give them, and rattled off the number of the droid he’d decommissioned when he’d downloaded a map of the Citadel.

“And where is the officer who is supposed to be stationed here?” The owner of the voice didn’t sound convinced.

K2 eyed the officer on the ground, who was still unconscious. “He is guarding the data towers,” he said, and it sounded unconvincing even to himself.

There were muttered orders from the other side of the door, then the sound of retreating footsteps. K2 almost believed that the soldiers had left, but no sooner had the possibility occurred to him that the door began to rattle again. He could hear the sounds of soldiers trying to force the lock open. For now, the lock was secure, but odds were slim that it would remain that way.

Thankfully, the sounds coming from the lock and the door were loud enough that K2 believed it was safe to unmute the comm. No sooner had he spoken, in the softest voice he believed would carry to the other end of the line, the category Jyn and Cassian would need to sift through for the plans than Cassian’s voice came back through.

“Kay, what the _hell_ is going on out there?” Cassian hissed, seeming to take the hint that anything louder would likely end badly.

“We have been found, I’m afraid,” K2 replied. He watched the door, calculated approximately how much time there was before the lock either gave in or was overridden. How long, then, until this access point was shut down entirely? He heard Cassian swear on the other end.

There was a click from the lock, and the door swung open. K2 leveled the blaster Jyn had left him and felled the first few soldiers with ease. Their reinforcements had not yet arrived, but K2 was sure they would be on their way. “I’ve stalled them, but it won’t last long,” he said.

K2 heard Cassian swear on the other end. He heard Jyn’s voice too, sounding triumphant. He heard Cassian ask _Are you sure? How do you know?_ There were footsteps in the hall, coming quickly toward the chamber. K2 had no choice but to disconnect from the machine in front of him when a bolt from a blaster hit him in the shoulder and knocked him back. Not for the first time, K2 felt something like gratitude for the fact that he wasn’t an organic life form; he recovered in a fraction of a second and opened fire with deadly accuracy. Another bolt hit him in the chest, one in his arm. Then finally the soldiers were down, at least for the moment.

“Kay?” Cassian asked. “Kay, it’s _Stardust_.”

K2 plugged back in. Already he could hear more footsteps, more voices. He found the file and pressed a button that would indicate the file on the tower. He glanced to the officer who had been here when they’d arrived, now half buried under other bodies. In that instant K2 knew that Cassian and Jyn could not exit this way. If they hoped to transmit the plans to the Rebel fleet, they would need to find a new way out.

In a split second, K2 ran through several scenarios, trying to find the most likely chance of success. He didn’t know the status of the rest of the Rogue crew, but he factored in the survival of Cassian at least, and Jyn if possible. He studied the map he’d downloaded earlier from the other droid. Not a second passed before he had the most likely course of action mapped out.

He fired his blaster at the first soldier to round the turn. The man must have gotten ahead of the rest of his troop – the rest of the voices were still only halfway down the hall. “Climb,” K2 said into the comm. He heard Cassian’s voice start to ask for clarification, but he didn’t let the man get a word in. “The only way to be able to transmit to the fleet is to reach the antenna.” Blasters fired around the corner, one striking K2 in the shoulder. “Imperial forces will stop you here before you leave the towers.” Another blaster. K2 fired back. “Climb!” In the second before the soldiers followed their blaster fire into the room, K2 cut the power to the data towers and the antechamber. Now it would take far longer to pick the lock to the towers, or to override it, without power – it was highly probable that no one coming in now had the clearance to return power here.

When the soldiers finally entered, K2 raised his blaster and fired. He had expected them to overwhelm him, to shoot him so many times that his wiring fried and he’d be unable to operate.

That did not happen.

K2 was overwhelmed, yes, and he was surrounded. Someone shot the blaster from his hand. There were too many for him to react to all at once, and he suddenly felt someone probe the controls on his back. Before he could turn to stop them, his limbs froze and he felt his AI slow to a crawl. It was an emergency protocol, used only as a last resort to regain control of rogue droids. K2 would have found it amusing if it weren’t so frustrating.

“State your orders,” a soldier demanded.

“I was ordered to defend the data towers,” K2 said, thinking how fortunate it was that he hadn’t needed to do much lying.

“We’re on the same side,” another soldier said indignantly.

“I was ordered to defend the data towers,” K2 repeated. He noticed in their stances that they believed he was malfunctioning. Perhaps he could use that to his advantage.

“Where is your master?” the first soldier asked.

“I was ordered to defend the data towers.”

The soldiers shared looks, a few surveying the damage done to K2’s body. He could tell they believed something had been damaged in the fighting. The first soldier jerked her head to the side in a _let’s go_ gesture. She ordered a small group to stand watch in front of the door through which Jyn and Cassian had disappeared, and the rest led K2 away. He expected diagnostics to be run that would reveal his reprograming, and he expected to have that reprograming undone. It pleased him to think that first he had been able to give Cassian a better chance at survival.

*~*~*~*~*

“Climb?” Jyn asked. She was looking at the comm on Cassian’s shoulder, as if waiting for the clarification Cassian had tried to ask for.

Cassian leaned forward so he could see through the window to the data towers. Power had been cut as soon as they’d retrieved the _Stardust_ file from its spot on the tower, and now it hung there, unplugged and stuck while there wasn’t power to bring it down. “Climb the tower,” he said. He couldn’t see the top of the structure from his vantage point, couldn’t see much in the low light from the emergency lights, but if K2 said they could make it out by going up, then that’s how they would try.

“Step back,” Jyn said.

Cassian glanced over in time to see her draw a blaster from its holster on her hip. He backed up and turned away as the blaster fired and the glass shattered in its frame.

Jyn made the jump first, getting a grip on the tower with a grunt. She slipped once before she got a handle on how to use the cartridges as hand- and foot-holds and started to climb, muscles in her arms and legs protesting. She heard a _thump_ when Cassian jumped after her, but kept climbing.

Until she heard something _bang_ against the door they’d come through. She paused and glanced down at Cassian, who had stopped and was looking toward the room they’d just been in.

“What’s going on?” Jyn asked. She wanted to lean down and try to get a look at what was going on, but the cartridge was already almost within her grasp.

“Keep climbing,” Cassian said urgently, forcing himself higher. “I think someone found us.”

Jyn nodded, forcing her anxiety down. She focused on her target and pulled herself higher until _Stardust_ was right in front of her nose.

Bracing herself against the tower proved to be more difficult than climbing. Jyn jammed her toes as far into her foot-holds as she could and held on as tightly as she could with her left hand while she set to trying to pull _Stardust_ free with her right. Without power, the mechanical hands that held on to the file wouldn’t give it up, and when Jyn finally managed to pull it free, she was nearly thrown from the tower by the force of her pull.

“You okay up there?” Cassian asked from just below her.

Jyn nodded, not trusting her voice with her heart in her throat as it was. She clipped the cartridge to her belt and looked toward the top of the tower. She only made it up a few feet when she heard something coming down the maintenance walkway, on the other side of the tower and about twenty feet below her. She paused and leaned around the tower so she could look in the direction of the sound, but she couldn’t see who was coming. Her gaze shifted to Cassian, still ten feet or so below her and much closer to the walkway. Jyn met his eyes when he looked up at her.

“ _Keep going_ ,” Cassian said forcefully, pulling his blaster from its holster.

Jyn only hesitated a second before she took his advice and climbed higher. He was right, of course. If he could hold them off, she’d be able to get to the satellite dish and transmit the files.

She heard a shot from a blaster hit the tower, then another shot that sounded like it came from Cassian. There was a faint _thud,_ and a quick glance down showed Cassian still clinging to the tower.

In the next instant, a volley of shots hit the data tower. Jyn could feel the vibrations in her arms and legs. She risked another glance down and saw Cassian moving to his left to stay hidden behind the tower. He didn’t appear hurt.

A bright spot on the platform caught Jyn’s attention, and she recognized Krennic immediately. She locked eyes with him and saw fury in his expression, noticeable even from this distance. She’d seen that look on his face before, and it gave her a sick kind of satisfaction to see it now.

She was about to turn and keep climbing when there was a shot from a blaster. She saw Krennic’s man stumble, but remain upright. Krennic’s attention turned to Cassian.

“ _Jyn!_ ” Cassian shouted, getting off another shot even as files by his foot were melted by blaster fire. “ _Keep going!_ ”

Jyn shook herself and climbed higher. She felt the tower vibrate from the blaster fire. There was a flare of heat by her left hand and she ducked to the right to stay out of their line of fire, slipping about five feet further down the tower before she regained her grip.

Suddenly there was a crash below. Jyn stopped immediately and looked down to find Cassian, unconscious and likely dead, on a platform below the maintenance walkway.

“ _No!_ ” Jyn looked over at the walkway and noticed that the troopers were leaving, but Krennic wasn’t among them anymore. She wished she knew how long he’d been gone.

 _Keep going!_ Jyn took a breath and climbed higher, faster now that she wasn’t being shot at. She reached the top of the tower quickly, watching a hatch open and close above her. Her shoulders protested when she pulled herself onto a platform below the hatch and started timing it. With a deep breath, she jumped at the piping below the hatch, pulling herself up and kicking off the wall to swing herself to her feet and jump through the hatch.

The sunlight was blinding after the darkness of the inside of the tower, and the sounds of fighting were almost as bad. TIE fighters and X-wings still chased each other, and Jyn could see the remnants of walkers scattered around the landing pads. She tried to find LP9, but she didn’t have time to orient herself. She just had to hope that it wasn’t one that was smoking.

Jyn stumbled toward the main control tower, hoping Bodhi had gotten through, hoping the fleet had managed to open the shield gate. She inserted the cartridge and was greeted by a voice instructing her to realign the dish. She deflated, scanning the panel in front of her but finding no way to adjust anything. A quick survey of her surroundings revealed a platform hanging over the edge of the Citadel with a panel at the end. Hoping that was her target, Jyn made her way to the end of the platform.

The controls were simple to figure out, but the dish moved slowly. Jyn could almost feel the attention of TIE fighters shift from the dogfights they were already winning to her. As soon as she was sure the dish was in position, she ran back toward the control panel, only to have the platform shot right in front of her. She managed to catch the handrail as she fell, pulling painfully on the muscles of her shoulders and arms as the platform slammed to a stop, hanging by only a few pieces of metal.

 _Almost there_ , Jyn thought. She hauled herself up, kicking against what was left of the platform to give herself leverage. She thought she might have been okay when she finally hauled herself over the lip of the platform and found Krennic standing before her in his white uniform. Even so, she pushed herself to her feet. She’d prefer to look him in the eye when he shot her.

*~*~*~*~*

Cassian came to as Jyn approached the top of the tower. He noticed the lack of blaster fire at the same time he noticed a sharp pain in his side. With a groan, he sat up, noticed his dropped blaster and put it back in its holster. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth and stood upright, his vision swimming. He started to assess the damage to his body, but gave up in favor of climbing the tower. One of his arms was all but useless, but he used it to balance himself anyway. He had to ignore a sharp pain in his knee as he climbed higher.

About halfway up, he almost decided it was better to go back to his platform and wait for the end, whatever that was. His vision had finally settled and adrenaline was keeping his pain at bay for the time being, but with an arm and a leg that weren’t working well he wouldn’t stand a chance getting away from anyone.

But he had his blaster, and that would have to be enough. Cassian steeled himself and kept climbing.

When he reached the hatch, he knew he wouldn’t be able to climb fast enough to get through it. He watched it for a moment, studying the structure around it. He felt the weight of his blaster on his hip and after a moment’s deliberation, he fired at the hatch. The metal fused to itself in the heat, completely disabling the hatch.

Climbing through was more difficult than getting up the data tower, and when Cassian finally managed to pull himself through, he saw Jyn standing on a ruined platform, Krennic in front of her with a blaster aimed at her chest.

Cassian tried to stand, but stumbled. He grit his teeth and tried again, this time managing to stumble to the main structure that supported the dish. All the movement made his vision swim again. He shook himself in an attempt to clear his head, and immediately closed his eyes against the pounding that followed. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed another figure emerge from a doorway off to the side, presumably from an elevator. It took a moment for his eyes to readjust, but when they did, Cassian thought he must have been seeing things; if he didn’t know any better, he’d say he was seeing K2.

The new figure approached Jyn and Krennic and raised a blaster. Cassian wanted to shout something, to warn Jyn, but he couldn’t make any sound. The newcomer fired, and Krennic dropped to the ground. Jyn startled, but only hesitated a moment before she made her way to the main controls. When she spotted Cassian, she looked like she’d seen a ghost, but she kept on her track to the controls.

“Kay?” Cassian asked as the droid approached.

The droid looked him up and down for a moment before declaring, “You look terrible.”

Cassian tried to laugh, but the pain in his side wouldn’t let him. “What happened?”

“Imperial forces found us,” K2 replied. “They believed I was malfunctioning and took me for diagnostics.”

“How did you get away?”

“My escort was distracted by a disturbance and I was able to exploit it.”

There was a sound from the control panel that sounded like a confirmation. Cassian glanced over and found Jyn looking up at the dish, as if she’d be able to see the signal transmitting in the sky. When she froze and seemed to lock on to something, Cassian followed her gaze and noticed something massive hanging in the sky.

“That’s it, isn’t it?” K2 asked.

“Yes,” Jyn replied. “The Death Star.”

Cassian lifted a hand to the comm on his shoulder, but found that he’d lost it somewhere. He leaned heavier against the tower, feeling his adrenaline wearing off and the pain of his injuries creeping into his body. “You think anyone’s listening?” he asked.

The others were quiet for a moment before Jyn said, “Yes. I think they are.”

*~*~*~*~*

Baze sat in the cockpit with Chirrut and Bodhi. Bodhi was running through his final check before getting the ship airborne, Chirrut was leaning against Baze’s arm. He’d complained about a headache and it made Baze worry.

“Have you heard from them?” Chirrut asked. His eyes were closed and he held the hand Baze had around his shoulders.

“Nothing,” Bodhi said. He flipped a final switch and pushed a lever forward. The ship shuddered once and lifted into the air.

“Are we leaving them?” Baze asked.

“We’ll make a pass by the communications tower,” Bodhi said. “That’s where they should be.”

“And if they aren’t there?”

Bodhi didn’t answer, instead angling the ship toward the tower. His movements were stiff, and his jaw was set against the pain in his arm and shoulder.

Baze kept his gaze fixed out the window, not wanting to think about what would happen if the others weren’t on the tower where they were supposed to be. He squeezed Chirrut’s shoulder for a moment, just to remind himself that he was there.

“What is that?” Baze asked, leaning forward to try to get a better look out the window.

Bodhi glanced out the window, but shrugged with his good shoulder. He couldn’t get a good look at whatever it was Baze was looking at.

“What does it look like?” Chirrut asked softly.

Baze squinted, considering. “A ship,” he finally said. “But much much larger than a normal ship.”

Bodhi’s demeanor stiffened further. “The Death Star,” he said quietly. “We need to leave quickly.”

The tower was in sight now, and when Baze looked out the front window he could see figures under the satellite dish. He felt himself relax, and Chirrut beside him. Bodhi moved as quickly as he could to bring the ship around. He glanced quickly toward the ladder and a look of dread passed over his face.

“I will meet them,” Baze said, gently extricating himself from Chirrut’s grip and standing.

Chirrut caught at his hand and squeezed it once before he let go. “Be careful,” he said.

Baze could see how much it pained his partner to be left in the cockpit, but Baze also knew that when Chirrut was dizzy from hitting his head, it wasn’t a good idea to have him try to wander around. “I’ll be right back,” Baze promised. He made his way to the ladder and climbed down just as the ramp was lowered, creating a bridge to the tower. The ship hovered off the edge of the tower, ready to take off as soon as the ramp closed.

“It’s you,” Jyn said with relief. Baze could see the same relief on Cassian’s face, though he looked as if he’d just been in the fight of his life. Twice.

“We have to be quick,” Cassian said. He pushed off the structure he was leaning on and immediately stumbled on his next step. Jyn and K2 caught him.

Baze stepped back to let them on. As soon as their feet hit the floor of the ship, he called up, “Bodhi, we’re ready.”

The ramp immediately started to close. For the first time Baze noticed a man in white on the other end of the tower, lying prone on the ground. He looked familiar, but Baze didn’t get a chance to get a good look at him before the ramp sealed itself shut.

“How’re the others?” Cassian asked from where Jyn and K2 had helped him to sit against the wall. He looked pale.

“Bodhi is flying,” Baze said. “Chirrut got himself hurt, but he will live I think.” Baze managed the smallest of smiles.

“The rest?” Jyn asked.

Baze’s face fell again and he shook his head. The group was silent a moment as the ship angled itself up. Baze noticed a bright green light come from the cockpit, followed by the dull _boom_ of an explosion. He elected not to worry about it at the moment, considering the ship was still flying.

“Get me to the cockpit.”

Baze looked down at Cassian. “You should not be moving much,” he said even as Jyn and K2 helped him to stand again.

“I need to see what’s going on,” Cassian said, a grim determination on his face.

Baze watched him for a moment before he nodded. Baze went up first and retook his seat beside Chirrut, who immediately took his hand again.

Jyn came up next, and helped Cassian to stand when he heaved himself up. K2 was last.

“You might want to hold on to something,” Bodhi said. His words came out stiff, but Jyn and Cassian took seats on the edge of the little room. K2 joined Bodhi at the controls. And then the ship was rocketing out of the atmosphere and into hyperspace before it could be spotted. Thankfully that wasn’t difficult, considering the rebels were still fighting against the Imperial fleet.

Suddenly the ship was quiet. Baze closed his eyes and wrapped an arm around Chirrut’s shoulders again. Chirrut, in turn, wrapped an arm around Baze’s midriff and rested his head on Baze’s shoulder. K2 read Bodhi’s condition in less than a second and quietly took over the controls, earning a grateful look from the pilot. Jyn heaved a sigh of relief and leaned back, her hands working the muscles in her upper arms to relieve the pain. Only Cassian didn’t make himself comfortable.

“Bodhi, what happened out there?” Cassian asked.

Bodhi glanced over, then down at himself. One side of his uniform was torn and bloody, but he’d hardly noticed. “Shrapnel,” he said. He looked back up at Cassian and seemed to notice for the first time what kind of condition he was in. “You okay?”

Cassian huffed a laugh and winced. His eyes were drooping and it looked like he was having trouble concentrating. Still, he managed to lock eyes with Bodhi and request, “Sit with me?”

Bodhi blinked at him, his own mind starting to go fuzzy as well as the adrenaline wore off. He looked over at K2, who gave him the mechanical equivalent of a curious look.

“I’m capable of flying the ship myself,” K2 said, the words coming out softer that they would have before the mission.

Bodhi nodded and shook himself. He stood unsteadily, but managed to get himself beside Cassian. Up close, he looked paler than Bodhi had first thought, and clammy too. Even so, Cassian managed a smile.

“We won,” he said proudly.

Bodhi nodded, suddenly not in the mood to talk.

“How long until we get back?” Cassian asked.

Bodhi glanced at K2, who seemed to be pretending he couldn’t hear their conversation. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Not long,” Bodhi said.

Cassian managed a nod. “I can hold on that long,” he said. He glanced at Bodhi out of the corner of his eye and managed a smile. He held out his hand. “Good work, pilot.”

Bodhi looked at Cassian’s hand like it might bite him, but after a moment he took it. He noticed Cassian’s smile broaden just a bit before Cassian leaned his head back and closed his eyes, squeezing his hand, though whether it was for comfort or for something else, Bodhi couldn’t quite tell.

*~*~*~*~*

K2 spent the flight back to Yavin-4 making sure the ship remained on course. He tried to stay out of the hushed conversations the others were having, letting them process what had happened in whatever human way they needed to. He could hear Baze and Chirrut talking quietly to each other in their native language, occasionally laughing softly. Jyn fell in and out of consciousness, speaking up only once or twice to ask how far they were. Bodhi seemed more than content to not say anything, but any time Cassian spoke, he tried to answer.

K2 thought this was all strange, but he found it fascinating how they each reacted differently. He thought it fortunate that none of them asked him any questions; the last thing he wanted to do was attempt to communicate with them when they were dealing with trauma.

When Yavin-4 finally came into view, K2 announced it to the small group in the cockpit. None of them reacted more than glancing out the front window for a moment.

K2 kept the ship low to the trees as he approached, and when he could see the base on the ship’s navigation systems he opened communication with them.

“This is Rogue One, requesting permission to land.” K2 caught Bodhi smiling slightly at the name.

There was silence on the line for a moment, then, “Restate your call sign and request.”

“Rogue One. This is Rogue One, requesting permission to land,” K2 repeated.

Another beat of silence. “Permission granted, Rogue One.” K2 thought he heard noise in the background that time, and not just a little.

“We will need medics upon arrival,” K2 said. “I repeat, we have five passengers who require medical attention.”

“Copy that Rogue One.”

K2 brought the ship in as gently as he could and lowered the ramp. He heard footsteps immediately, and shortly thereafter, a medic poked her head into the cockpit. She tried to smile reassuringly at them, but the Rogue team was too exhausted and banged up to return the sentiment.

“In here,” the medic called over her shoulder before making her way into the cockpit. “Welcome home, Rogue One.”

**Author's Note:**

> [rebloggable version on tumblr if that's your thing](http://titlecomingsoon.tumblr.com/post/161946060846/welcome-home)/[come talk to me if you want \o/](http://titlecomingsoon.tumblr.com/ask)


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